24-70 or 85mm for group studio portraits?

[yuriyo923]

If I have enough room, would I be better off using my 85mm instead of 24-70? What are the benefits? Thanks!

[Shamir]

24-70... sometimes groups can be bigger..

[egordon99]

You'd need a pretty big studio to get a group shot @ 85mm (even on a 5D)

And you'd probably stop down a bit anyway.

But I guess if you really did have enough room, I think the 85 might be sharper than the 24-70 once you get to f/4-8 (but I could be wrong....)

Try it both ways and see which you prefer :)

[aram535]

I agree with egordon, if you have enough room the 85mm will usually give you better IQ. I am assuming 3-5 people and with 2-3 levels, any more than that you're going to lose real estate fast and the people will shrink.

[Maureen Souza]

My 85/1.2 is soley used for portraits. It is exceptional. But for the rest of the wedding I put on the 24-70 on my full frame cam and the 70-200 goes on the 50D.

[yuriyo923]

I'm shooting few portraits in church this sunday, so there will be plenty of room for me.. Mostly will be parents +1-3 kids. I guess I'll see how much room my 85 will give me, I don't want to be too far away to have to yell at the people in order for them to hear me... :)

[Goshawk]

The 24-70 is a very handy tool indoors. Just be careful on the wide side as it can make people look a bit funny in group shots(I try not to go under 35mm).
Mine is sharp even at f/2.8
I have always regarded the 85mm more as a single portrait lens like my 100mm, but then my 100 has worked just fine for 2 or 3 person head/shoulder shots.
You most likely will be able to use the 85 for group shots but space/groupsize and depending if you want full length shots is all going to restrict you a bit.
Another plus with the 24-70 is that you do not have too foot zoom that much.